U.S. 169 CONSTRUCTION TO START NEXT WEEK: In late April the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) plans to start a pavement reconstruction project on a seven-mile section of U.S. 169 in Allen County, from Minnesota Road south to Delaware Road. Project activity consists of replacing the concrete pavement on the mainline and interchange ramps, and reestablishing a new subgrade base.
During the week of April 23, weather permitting, KDOT will close this section of U.S. 169 to through traffic. The highway will remain closed between Minnesota and Delaware roads until the project is finished in the spring of 2019. The signed state route detour for U.S. 169 southbound traffic: from U.S. 54 at Iola proceed west on U.S. 54 to U.S. 75, travel south on U.S. 75 to K-39, then proceed east on K-39 to U.S. 169 at Chanute. Northbound U.S. 169 traffic should follow the same detour route in the opposite direction.
KDOT awarded the $16 million construction contract to Emery Sapp & Sons, Inc., of Columbia, Mo. Persons with questions may contact Darrin Petrowsky, KDOT area engineer at the Iola office, (620) 365-2161, or Priscilla Petersen at the KDOT office in Chanute, (620) 902-6433.
Fab Lab ICC sets next Women 4 Women event
The next event in Fab Lab ICC’s Women 4 Women series is a lunch-and-learn session scheduled for Friday, April 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fab Lab, 2564 Brookside Drive, on the campus of Independence Community College.
“Problem Solving the Entrepreneurial Way” will feature a guest presentation by local entrepreneur Stacey Yakshaw, owner of several local and online business ventures. Yakshaw will share her story of becoming an entrepreneur, overcoming challenges and solving problems for her customers.
The event also will include problem-solving education from the entrepreneurial perspective presented by Fab Lab Director Jim Correll, as well as interactive problem-solving exercises among the group.
Lunch will be provided, and the event, like all Women 4 Women activities, is free and open to any woman with an interest in launching a business, growing an existing business, learning to fabricate a custom-designed product or simply curious about how an entrepreneurial mindset might impact her professional personal life.
The two-year Women 4 Women program is funded by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to support more inclusive programs for entrepreneurs in diverse and underserved populations. The program will include monthly or more frequent workshops focused on a variety of entrepreneurship topics and also will include hands-on creative production in the Fab Lab maker space and the establishment of a mobile fab lab for outreach to area communities.
More information is available and reservations for the April 27 event may be made by contacting Women 4 Women Program Coordinator Joanne Smith at fabcreativeservices@gmail.com or (620) 330-3006.